


V is for Velay

by Pearlislove



Category: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Spoilers for Book 5
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:14:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27918058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlislove/pseuds/Pearlislove
Summary: A rewrite of the end of Book 5, Conference of the birds. What happens when Noor and Jacob finally find V...
Relationships: V & Noor Pradesh
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	V is for Velay

**Author's Note:**

> Big spoilers for book 5 ending. Rewrote the whole thing as it sucked. Enjoy!

"It's me! Noor!" 

V lowers the shotgun, and her dark eyes are wide as she stares at the two peculiars on her doorstep.

"What...why are you here? How did you find me!" She asks and the shotgun shoots up again, her mind obviously deciding not to trust what she sees. 

However, the gun doesn't point at Noor this time. Instead, it points to Jacob, pushed up firmly against his face and her finger itching on the trigger.

"What have you done to her?!" She screams at him, anger flaring in her eyes as she keeps pushing the gun against him.

"I haven't done anything!" Jacob shouts back, his hands going up in the air as the gun comes closer. He had expected V to be doubtful of them, but this woman appeared completely unhinged. "I haven't done anything I promise!"

She still doesn't believe him. He can see it in her eyes, full of fear and terror. She doesn't believe him and if this goes on she will shoot his head off.

"Liar" She whispers, her finger quickly tightening around the trigger as she readied herself for the kill. "You're nothing but a filthy, filthy..."

"Mama, no!" Realizing the danger he is in, Noor begins to scream. It's the only thing she can think to distract V, looking desperately for something to help him.

Before neither V nor Jacob can react, Noor has rushed over and hit her in the side with an object. The blow is heavy, whatever she throws causing V to stumble and shoot through the wall.

"Don't kill Jacob!" Noor keeps yelling at her as she starts to get up, staring in confusion at her child. "He's Abe's grandson!" She tells her, reaching for the gun.

V doesn't let her take it. Instead, she cradles it to her chest, holding it tight like a baby while she crawls backwards across the floor. Eventually, her back hits the wall, and she sits there and shivers.

For a moment, they're all in a standstill. V sits against the wall with her gun, Noor standing a few feet away and trying to decide what to do. Jacob remains where he is, not daring to move as long as V has the shotgun.

"Mama...please..." Noor decides to focus her efforts on V, slowly moving closer to the older woman. "You're safe. We're not here to hurt you. I just wanted to find you" 

V looks up at her, a hand tightening at her side where Noor had hit, but then her gaze quickly shifts to Jacob. "Abe?" She asks, her voice trembling.

"He died." Jacob explains, swallowing. He doesn't want to find out how she will take the news. "But I'm his grandson, and I am not with the hollows."

"He sees hollows" Noor adds, sitting down next to her mother, laying a hand on her arm, only to recoil as she pulls away violently. 

"How did you get here?" She asks, eyes staring straight at the child she raised. She looked at her like a complete stranger. And for every second he spends staring at them, Jacob is more and more assured of what he sees in them.

She is terrified. The black orbs are filled with object terror and it scares him to see that in return, because he doubts how much sanity actually hides behind those feelings.

Based on her actions so far, it wouldn't be a lot.

"We followed the address on the postcard. Then I used the nursery rhyme to get through the tornados." Noor explains, her voice soft, like she's talking to a child. "Why did you send it?"

V's head snaps to the side, focusing on Noor instead of Jacob. "Miss Avocet. She told me you were in the hands of the Ymbrynes again. That it was safe to contact you." She explains, slowly rocking back and forth with the gun in her lap. "I was so happy"

Jacob frowned. "Then why did you send it to the apartment?" He question, finding the story doubtful.

V shook her head, and tears are now brimming in her eyes. "She said she'd send someone to get it. That it...it was too dangerous to send it straight to you. That the hollows would find you" The tears fall faster, and suddenly she breaks down sobbing. "And I'd kill you!"

Noor looked at Jacob, bewildered and upset. Clearly, this was not the way she remembered her adopted mother. "Jacob...is it possible?" She asks hesitantly. "Miss Avocet" she then adds, half a thought, half a clarification of her previous statement.

Jacob considered it. He didn't know Miss Avocet terribly well, but he knew she was a clever and cunning woman. "It's possible." He decides. "That she did not want to attract further attention to you."

Noor nodded, looking relieved. So far, the story checked out okay. Only... "Mama, why are you here? Why did you settle in such a horrible place? We even used to live here" She shakes as she speaks, memories of the past overwhelming her as she tries to focus on the present.

There are so many questions, and it is clear Noor has to stop herself from asking anything more at that moment. The whole situation is precarious - the last thing they want to do is overwhelm V any more than they already have.

V shook her head, tears still streaming down her face. "Because it's how I wanted it. It's the way I chose to create my loop" She said. 

Jacob and Noor gasped in unison. It's the way _she_ made it, she said, her statement only referring to one possible thing.

She was an Ymbryne.

"You're a bird?!" Noor screams, unable to help herself at the volume of her voice. The revelation is shocking, and entirely unexpected.

There's a hefty _thunk_ heard as V's shotgun falls to the ground, and then she slowly stands up. "Well, yes. I am a Ymbryne" She nods down at Noor. "You didn't think Miss Avocet would just give you away to any old peculiar, now would you?" She asked.

"You were a trained Hollow slayer, second only to my grandfather. She'd have reason to trust you" Jacob argued, slowly starting to move towards Noor. 

V laugh. She actually laughs in his face, amused by the statemeant. "You really do not know the Ymbrynes. They wouldn't trust me just because I trained under _Abe Portman_. Other than for Alma Peregrine, it means nothing." She explains, shaking her head. "No, it had to be an Ymbryne. That's how it's been your whole life. From Bombay, to England, to the US. One set of wings after another, carefully carrying you across the oceans, looking for a way to protect you."

Her voice is soft, and her lips pull into a tiny smile. She lay a hand on Noor's shoulders, stroking her hair as Noor almost burst out crying herself.

"Then why did you leave me? I thought you died...I grieved for you!" She said as tears flowed down her cheeks."You were my mama, and I had to lose you."

V frown. The hand on Noor's shoulder tightened, and those empty eyes cloud over once more. "I had no choice. It was to keep you safe" She insisted, her voice threadbare.

"And just leaving you with anyone would do?" Noor asked, responding with a rage that surprised both V and Jacob. "Until Miss Avocet comes calling, yelling you to send a card! Someone had to tell you to contact me...even though you said you loved me!"

She continues to yell, and Jacob wants to warn her not to - but at the same time, he fears intervening, not wanting to disturb either of them any more.

"Noor...honey...please" There's an edge of desperation in V's voice when she speaks next, and she tries to pull her daughter in for a hug, only to have said daughter break free.

"No! Leave me alone!" She runs into the next room, disappearing out of sight before anyone can think of catching her.

As soon as she is gone,V groans, half collapsing down towards the floor. Her eyes are screwed shut with pain, and one of her hands tightly press against her midsection.

"Are you alright?" Jacob can't help but ask, daring to help now that Noor had disappeared.

"I...I'll be fine. Just...help me to the chair" She points towards a rickety chair standing near where she dropped the shotgun. "She knows how to defend herself" She pants, struggling to stand.

"Okay, okay...take it easy" Jacob rushed to help, supporting her on her injured side as he got her to the chair. Once there, he looked around for the object Noor had thrown to begin with.

A heavy metal pan lies abandoned on the carpet, and Jacob could only imagine if Noor hit her with that, it was bound to hurt.

V laugh again. It's quieter, this time, laced with pain, but she sure is laughing. "I keep that for intruders" She explains as she sees Jacob looking at the object. "Cracks their head like an egg."

"Probably cracked your ribs this time" Jacob said dryly. On the other hand, it all seemed to have sobered up V. "What's your name?"

"What?" V blinks, surprised by the sudden question. 

"Well we can't keep calling you V. Or do you prefer that? Surely you must have a name." Jacob asked.

V still seems perplexed by this, frowning with concentration as she tried to formulate an answer.

Jacob stands and wait patiently, looking around the small bungalow to give him something to do. It's a cluttered space but would've felt quite cozy, hadn't it been for the generous weapon collection. As it was, it only made it look like a military museum.

The only private possession he can spot, is a photo standing on top of a glass table storing an array of small handguns.

He immediately recognizes his Grandfather, cocky grin on his face and a rifle swung over his shoulder. Next to him, was a bench with five severe looking women sat on it. V stood on the other side of the women, posing with a gun just like Abe. She also had a sword in her other hand, holding it by the handle like a walking stick.

The picture feels intensely familiar, and as Jacob approaches it, he knows he's seen it before. He takes it into his hands, and suddenly, a name comes out of his memories.

"Velay. V is short for Velay" He says, turning around to stare at V, who look back at him with horror.

"How do you know that?!" She demands, her hands inching for the shotgun on the floor.

"My grandfather! Abe Portman." Jacob hurries to explain, putting the photo down so he could run when he needed it. "Abe told me about you" He says, and its only half the truth. It wasn't Abe who had told him about Velay, it was his father. 

They had found the photo in his bedroom, after he died. His father had looked at it with distain, and Sussie had just shook her head. 

_"No wonder mum thought he was cheating, running around with women like that!"_

By some miracle, V believes him. She still fishes up the shotgun but places it carefully in her lap, finger away from the trigger. "And he died?" She asked quietly.

"Yes. The hollows got to him" Jacob admits, holding his breath as he waits for her reaction.

The reaction never comes. Not so much as a single muscle moves in her face, and when she finally speaks, her voice is neutral. "Last time I spoke to your grandfather, he told me not to run errands for the Ymbrynes. He was furious that Miss Avocet had saddled me with her work." She explained, staring out into the room. "There are no good Ymbrynes in America, he said. None at all."

"Abe didn't know you were one, did he?"

Noor comes out of the kitchen carrying a tray with tea and biscuits. The swollen redness of her face betrays the fact that she had been crying, but she keeps a bravely neutral face when they look at her. 

V shakes her head. "No. I never told him. I didn't dare to." She admitted. "He used to ask me, how come you never do anything peculiar. And I used to say, neither do you." 

There's a smile on her lips as she recalled that particular conversation, and Noor smiled too. 

Going up to the two of them, she placed the drink on the table next to V.

"It wasn't easy to uh, find something to drink. But I found some tea and tea doesn't really get old so" She shrugged. "I think the cookies are good too"

Two pink spots bloomed on V's cheeks and Jacob couldn't help but wonder what, exactly, she had in those cupboards.

"I've been meaning to do some shopping" She defended herself, taking one of the tea cups and sipping it slowly. "Sorry honey" She then told Noor.

"It's okay" Noor assured her, sinking down to the floor next to her chair. Softly, she put her head down into V's lap. "I missed you" 

V wrapped a hand around her head, stroking her cheek. "I missed you too baby. You're so big now" She sighed, but seemed more content than distressed.

Noor nodded. "Where did you go? Why...why did you go" She asks very quietly, starting to squirm where she was resting.

"Did you erase her memories?" Jacob asks, worlds out of his mouth before he can control himself. He remembers the way Miss Peregrine had wiped his parents' minds and suddenly it all makes so much sense.

An Ymbryne would be able to do what someone had done to Noor, in order for V to be forgotten.

V doesn't answer. She sits quietly on her chair, one hand holding Noor and the other on the gun. Her sharp nails strum against the metal part of it, nervous and ever so threatening.

Noor lifted her head. Clearly, she didn't care. "Mama, did you?" she asked, and her voice trembled with fear and anger.

V closed her eyes, squeezing them shut. "I wanted you back. A million times I wanted you back. But we can't all have what we want." New tears pool in her eyes, and her grip on the weaponed tighten. 

Jacob swallowed. The weapon made him feel highly uncomfortable, but he doubted her would be able to take it from her. 

"But why?" Noor stood up, staring at the Ymbryne. "Why, mama? All you're giving me is excuses!" 

"Because I put you in danger!" V got up from the chair as well, moving smoothly and without any of the pain she displayed earlier. "You were wanted enough by the hollows without me! To be guarded by an Ymbryne...it was too dangerous. For both of us!" 

Noor hesitated. She didn't seem to know where to turn, how to react to what V said. On the one hand, she could see her mother was upset - but on other hand, she was angry, and V's new explanation still didn't cut it.

In her mind, she wondered if any explanation could do away with her anger over the abandonment and lies.

"Do any of you want something else from the kitchen?" Noor asked finally, stalling for time. She needed more time to think for herself, before giving her mum any response.

V and Jacob looked at eachother. Subtly, V nodded. _Give her something to do._

"Maybe some water?" Jacob suggested. "And is there anything more...food, in there?" He questioned.

V doesn't even wait until Noor is gone to fall down on the chair, panting hard. "This may be a problem." She confessed.

"Your ribs may be a problem." Jacob commented. "How bad is it?" He asks, worried as the woman let out a deep, pained groan.

V doubled over, trying to catch her breath as a wave of pain and nausea rushed over her. "I'll be fine. I just...need a minute. It's not well to layer injuries on each other"

Jacob wanted to ask what, exactly, her prior injury had been, but didn't have a chance. Before he could ask further, Noor had returned instead.

"You're injured?!" She screamed, anger melting to worry as she rushed over

"What happened?" She asked, finding herself back at the same spot next to V on the floor.

"Well you did hit me in the side with a frying pan" V commented, laughing until it turned into a strained coughing, gasping for air.

"Nono...I didn't hit that hard!" Noor was even more worried as she heard this, guilt clearly eating her up at the thought of having hurt V.

V shook her head. "No...you just hit a sore spot. But it's not your fault. And I'm fine" She manages to sit up proper, but doesn't get much further. The neutral face she managed before is no longer possible, and she swallows, groaning. 

"She said someone injured her before" Jacob provided. "You shouldn't lie to her" He said to V, despite knowing he had no right to tell her what to do or don't.

Noor nodded gratefully at Jacob. "Can I see?" She asked, pulling at V's blouse.

"Please don't" V ordered, pulling down the shirt again. "I didn't lie. I'll be fine. It will heal out in no time"

That answer was not acceptable to Noor. She pushed V's hand away, quickly pulling up the shirt tobexpose her side before she could push it back.

Her shocked gasp informed Jacob that it was bad. The pinkness of V's cheeks that followed confirmed it, and slowly, he began to move his way around her to see.

The skin that Noor stares at is discoloured. Countless gruesome bruises bloomed across it, painting it all in blue and black and yellow. It almost makes her sick, to see such obvious proof of her mother being mistreated.

To think she had slammed a frying pan into her side and added to all that.

"Who hurt you first?" Once Jacob stands beside her, Noor continues to ask questions. "I can't have done all this. It wouldn't have bruised so quickly"

She _hopes_ it wouldn't have bruised so quickly.

"A wight. He...he came into the loop a few days ago. Been trying to break in for years, but finally made it now." She smiled bitterly. "He had a few choice words for me." She said, pulling down her blouse again to hide the bruises.

"What did he do?" Noor insisted, not wanting to let it go. 

"Well, he _wanted_ to cut out my heart, I believe. He _tried_ to shoot me, but I avoided both. Barely" She said, unhappy. 

"That's why you tried to shoot Jacob." Noor realized. "You thought they'd come back."

V looked at her, eyes full of pain. "I thought they got you. I thought I'd...I'd have to let them have what they wanted." She swallowed audible, looking ill. "My still beating heart...for you"

Noor made an equally disgusted face.

"Why?" Jacob didn't understand. It wasn't so much the idea of them wanting to take her still beating heart - Wights had weird shopping lists - but the fact that he could not fantom what they'd have it for.

V just shook her head, leaning back against the wall as she seemed to be overwhelmed by a sudden wave of pain. "Something about a prophecy. The last ingredients" She moaned, her voice becoming strained as the pain evidently increased. 

Noor stared at Jacob. She knew what _that_ mean. "The prophecy!" She shouted. "They want her heart to bring back Caul!"

"Caul?!" V's eyes flew open at the mention of the man, nearly falling off the chair as she tried to sit up straight, derailed by the pain from her injuries.

"He's defeated" Jacob quickly provided, he and Noor both jumping to their feet to support V. "But the Wights want him back. They have all but one ingredient. We thought he needed an Ymbryne."

"He does" Noor corrected Jacob. "Just not any Ymbryne. He needed you" She said, in awe at this peculiar revelation.

V nodded, not really answering. 

"Why you? If he's tried for years then there can only be one option." Jacob argued. 

V sighed. "The fairytale calls for...the beating heart of the _mother of storms_. So he said" She explained tiredly. She was sagging, her energy and ability to keep up pretenses both going fast.

Jacob wondered how injured she actually was, but didn't find himself asking. He suspected he wouldn't get an truthful answer, anyway - only Noor could get that. Maybe not even her.

"We have to get out of here" Noor stated suddenly. "If the Wights have already found you, you're not safe. They can't take your heart!" 

Jacob looked over at her. He knew what Noor was saying, but he was also looking at V. Her skin had lost some colour since they first met her and her posture was getting worse, energy to keep up right slipping next. Moving her, in that situation, seemed ill advised.

V herself, however, seemed to have other ideas. "You're probably right honey. I was hoping not to have to leave this beautiful place…" She paused, looking around her. Obviously, she felt nostalgic. "But I can't risk them finding me." Her brain wins over her heart and she decides to go.

"Great!" Noor runs over to the door, obviously excited to get going. "Is there anything you need from here?" She question, looking around the room.

V shook her head. "No. No I don't…" Her eyes stray around the room, stopping at the photo on top of the gun storage. "Well, maybe"

She slowly gets up from where she sits, her posture stiff. Even slower, she takes two steps away from the support of the chair. By some miracle, she manages to stay upright, although she is ghostly pale and her hand clenches at her side.

Jacob looks at Noor, wondering how she is ignoring all this. How she could not, like him, see that V was very ill. 

Looking at Noor, he misses V's next move. All he hears is Noor's heartbreaking cry as she sees her mother try to take a third step and collapse, toppling over on the plush carpet.

"Mama!" Noor screams, running over to see her lay perfectly still on the carpet, her breathing coming out in struggling gasps."Jacob!"

Jacob rushes over, not sure what to do. "We can't move her. She could never make it back to Devil's acres like this."

"We can't leave her! It's not safe here" Noor protested, trying and failing to wake V by shaking her shoulder. She looked around the room, her eyes trying to find a solution. Her eyes fell on the photo with V and the Ymbrynes.

Jacob looked too. _Ymbrynes_. The stern ladies were Ymbrynes, just like V. "She has to transform!" He exclaimed.

Understanding dawned on Noor. "If she turns into a bird, we can carry her back to Devil's Acres!" Noor exclaimed, giddy. 

Without another word, they've agreed. Noor is down on her hands and knees, talking to V quietly and trying to wake her enough to get the message across, while Jacob runs to get the picture she clearly wanted.

"Jacob!" He's just picked up the picture, when Noor shouts at him. "Kitchen. A suitcase!" She ordered, her eyes trained on V. "Hurry!"

He turned around, and ran for the kitchen. As he disappeared, Noor bent down even closer to V. She was basically brushing her nose on the floor, trying to talk to her adopted mother.

"Please, transform. We can't help you if you don't transform" She begged, squeezing her hand in hers. "You always protected me. Please, let me protect you"

At those last words, V's eyes opened, and Noor feot her heart soar. She began to almost glow with some weird energy, before finally her whole body folded in on itself, morphing and leaving only a grey and white bird hiding among the clothes she had worn.

"Thank you!" She gasped, picking it up gently in the shawl that V had worn. It shivered in her hands, and she wrapped it tighter in the warm fabric.

Jacob came running back from the kitchen, suitcase in hand, and saw Noor carefully wrapping a medium sized bird in V's shawl. He sighed - V had transformed, after all.

Quickly, he filled the remaining space in the suitcase with the outfit she had worn when she transformed. 

"Let's go!" He told Noor. "It's all done here."

  
  



End file.
